Printing compound and method of making same



Patented Aug. 2, 1932 PAUL YOHNS, F NEVT YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THEBUTTER-10K PUBLISHING GOM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF NEl/V YORK I PRINTINGCOMPOUND AND METHOD OF LEAKING SAME No Drawing. Application filed July29,

This invention relates to printing compounds in which soluble dyesconstitute the coloring principle, and it is especially designed for theprinting of transfer patterns from which the printed design is to betransferred onto another surface like textile fabric, etc. by moistureor by a combination of heat and moisture; as by the method described inUnited States Patent No. 1,552,374, granted to me under date ofSeptember 1, 1925, in which the transfer is effected by the applicationof heat and moisture through the fabric from the back, the transfersheet and the fabric being arranged in contact.

Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are:To provide a printing compound as characterized which may be employed onhigh speed printing presses; to provide a medium of the charlactermentioned which can be printed from ordinary fiat zinc cuts orstereotypes; to provide an ink of the character mentioned for producingvery dark shades while using a thin layer of printing medium; to providea compound of the character mentioned which will continue soluble andwill retain its strength; to provide a medium as characterized whichafter printing will permit folding, creasing and handling of the sheetto SOLWhlCh it is applied without damage to the printed surface; toprovide a compound of the character mentioned possessing perfectdistributing and self-levelling qualities.

It is a fact,well recognized by dye chemists, that the solubility ofdyes is not unlimited. If more dye is added to a given body of a liquidthan such body of liquid will dissolve, the excess dye will not dissolveand may form lumps, etc. and the mixture will be unfit for printingpurposes. But with most dyes, especially with the basic dyes, which aregenerally acknowledged to be the most brilliant, it would be impossiblewith the use of an ordinary solution, such as is used in tentileprinting to obtain dark shades in a transferring operation when thelayer of ink on the transfer sheet is to be not thicker than ordinarybook print. Textile prints do not suffer from this shortcoming, becausethere 50 the color is printed in a heavy layer from 1926. Serial No.125,829.

eeply engraved cylinders by the intaglio process.

To obtain a soluble dye printing compound of the desired strength,carrying out this invention in one form, I make use of certain qualitiesof aliquid commercially known as acetine. Acetine is usually produced byheating glycerine together with strong acetic acid, distilling off theweak acetic acid resulting, and again heating with strong acetic acidand distilling. This liquid has excellent qualities as a solvent forbasic dyes and for this reason is sometimes added to regular textileprinting pastes which contain a large percentage of water. Due to thevery fact that t iey contain water, these pastes cannot be heated tomore than 212 degrees Fahr. and therefore only a small amount ofdyestuff can be dissolved therein. But when acetine alone is employed,it is possible, by heating said liquid to about 3&0 degrees Fahr. toincorporate in it a much greater amount of dyestuff, because at suchtemperature the basic dyes will not only dissolve but also melt in theacetine, the two forming a homogenous, smooth paste. The percentage ofdyestuff in the liquid can thus be made as high as in some cases higherthan 50%, while in ordinary textile printing pastes 3% is the average.

F or lighter shades and for the purpose of improving the distributingand levelling qualities of the compound, a thickener may be added. Anysubstance may be employed for this purpose which is soluble or meltablein the acetine. Venice turpentine is easily compounded with theacetine-dye solution by heating and stirring the two together at about250 degrees Fahr. Gum shellac (preferably white shellac in granules orpowder) may also be used for this purpose. In this case the shellac isfirst stirred into the cold acetine, which is then heated to about 340degrees Fahr. when the shellac will melt. When all the shellac hasmelted the dyestuff is dumped in. For dark shades the mixture is kept at3 0 degrees Fahr. to insure a melting of all the dye particles andlumps. For light shades the temperature can be decreased to 270 degreesFahr. before the dye is added.

The dye should be stirred in with a wooden 8. A printing ink comprisingacetine, Venstick. hen all the dye has been dissolved and melted, themixture should be strained through a piece of muslin, while still hotand fluid, to eliminate all foreign particles. Tin or iron vesselsshould not be used for this process, copper or enamelware being bestsuited.

It must be understood that the proportions of the ingredients of abovecompound may vary greatly according to the shade desired, also accordingto the tinctorial strength of the particular colors, which differsgreatly. In addition, some of the dyes have a much greater thickening orgelatinizing effect than others, which fact allows for a smallerproportion of gum. The nature of the surface to be printed on also mustbe taken into consideration. Therefore, a fixed formula, serving allpurposes, cannot be set down. However, the following formula giveaverage consistency and medium shade:

A. Dye, one-half pound; acetine, one pound; Venice turpentine, onepound.

B. Dye, one-half pound; acetine, two pounds; shellac, one pound.

For verv dark shades the followin is su gested:

C. Dye, one pound; acetine, one pound.

The above proportions are for use with concentrated pure basic dyes,such as methylene yellow, rhodamine, crystal violet, victoria blue,brilliant green crystals, nigrosine, and others.

A printing compound made in the manner substantially as above set forthwill be found to possess the highest qualities as to distribution andlevelling, and may be employed successfully on high speed presses of therotary, offset or flat bed type, where the usual transfer or copyinginks are unsuitable, or not well suited. V] hen dry it will constitutean elastic film which will not crack or chip off.

Vhile I have herein suggested that the invention is designed especiallyfor the printing of patterns to be used for transfer of the color ontotextiles, it will be understood that as a printing compound it may beemployed or other kinds of printing, for instance as :1- copying ink;also for the printing of showcards, where its smoothness and brilliancyof color would be appreciated.

Claims:

1. A printing compound suitable for printing on thin paper comprisingacetine, gum shellac and more than 14% of a basic dye which remainspermanently soluble in hot water after printing and drying.

2. A transfer ink suitable for printing on thin paper consisting ofacetine, gum shellac and a basic dye, such dye being capable of beingtransferred to textile material from sheets printed with such ink byapplication of heat and moisture, even a long time after drying.

ice turpentine and over 14% of a dye soluble in the acetine and Veniceturpentine when hot.

4. An ink for printing transfer sheets, comprising acetine, Veniceturpentine and a basic dyestuff, such composition, when printed as adesign on a tissue sheet being capable of transfer to a fabric incontact therewith by combined heat and moisture.

5. A printing composition suitable for printing on thin paper,comprising acetine, Venice turpentine and a dye which remainspermanently soluble in hot water after printing and drying.

6. A transfer ink suitable for printing on thin paper comprisingacetine, Venice turpentine and a dye capable of being transferred fromsuch printed sheet to textile fabric in contact therewith by heat andmoisture, even a long time after drying such printed sheet.

PAUL YOHNS.

